More students are applying to the Adams County Career and Technical Institute (ACTI) than the school can fit. To meet the demand and expand its programming, ACTI hopes to build a new campus. The school currently occupies a building on the Gettysburg Area High School campus.
ACTI Administrative Director Sean Eckenrode told the Fairfield Area School District Board of Directors during its Oct. 9 study session that 212 students applied for 147 spots last year.
ACTI serves Fairfield, Bermudian Springs, Gettysburg, Littlestown, and Conewago Valley school districts. It offers Culinary Arts, Allied Health, Criminal Justice, Building Trades, Early Learning Education, Computer Networking, and Diesel Mechanics. Eckenrode said that half of the school’s students enter the workforce immediately after graduation. He added that 120 graduates received 456 industry-recognized credentials and 231 college credits through the program.
“The ‘everybody needs a four-year degree’ narrative that we have been pushing for 25 years just doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Business support
Jeffery A. Newhouse, director of operations for Fairfield-based Bertelsmann Printing Group; Chris Blackwell, general manager for Liberty Mountain Resort in Carroll Valley, and Kaycee Kemper, vice president of the Adams County Economic Alliance, attended the meeting to express support for ACTI.
Newhouse said Bertelsmann Printing Group questions its future in Adams County. He believes an ACTI expansion will ensure the area has a qualified applicant pool for its needs.
“We need individuals wanting to stay in Fairfield, working at that particular plant,” he said.
Blackwell echoed his remarks, noting Liberty struggles to find qualified mechanics.
New Adams County Career and Technical Institute needed
Eckenrode noted that 18-20 percent of students in most Pennsylvania counties attend technical high schools. Due to space constraints, 6.4 percent of Adams County students attend ACTI.
Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates conducted a pro bono study for ACTI that showed ACTI should be offering 14 programs and have space for 632 students.
The new building will require 140,000 square feet, with 80,000 devoted to learning spaces, Eckenrode said. No available vacant buildings in the county meet those requirements, he said.
It has not yet been determined where the new campus would be located.
Funding requirements
The school is seeking grant money, but first, it needs to form an authority to collect the money and govern its use. Pennsylvania municipal authorities are created to finance or operate specific public works projects without tapping the general taxing powers, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Adams County Commissioners awarded ACTI a $500,000 grant using COVID-19 relief money, Eckenrode said, but it cannot collect or use the money until it forms an authority.
FASD Board President Jennifer I. Holz asked her colleagues to appoint Lashay M. Kalathas to represent the district on the authority. Holz said Kalathas, who was not at the meeting, is a business owner who understands the community’s needs. Kalathas currently serves as an alternate on the ACTI Joint Operating Committee.
Eckenrode expressed appreciation for FASD’s support.
“I think our students deserve it. For the past 50 years, our students have not had the same opportunities that students in surrounding counties and across the state have had,’” he said.
The board will discuss the topic and Kalathas’ appointment further at its Oct. 23 meeting.
Alex J. Hayes has spent almost two decades in the Adams County news business. He is passionate about sharing stories focused on the people in our communities and following local governments in an age when few journalists report on their meetings. Alex is also a freelance writer for several other publications in South Central Pennsylvania. Alex encourages readers to contact him at ahayes83@gmail.com.